The present invention is directed to a tool fill port for use with drywall pumps. Specifically, the invention relates to a fill port assembly that can be added to a continuous flow drywall pump to permit filling of drywall joint compound applicator tools having various couplings.
Historically, drywall joint compound has been applied manually using hand tools, such as trowels. More recently, automated hand tools have been developed to apply drywall joint compound from dispensing tools having internal storage containers that can be filled with a fixed volume of joint compound. Such automated hand tools greatly increase efficiency by reducing time needed to apply the joint compound. The internal storage container is filled using a manually operated pump that is inserted into a joint compound bulk container, such as a bucket. After the internal storage container is emptied, the manually operated pump must again be employed to fill the automated hand tool. Each tool couples to the pump outlet using a coupling specifically configured for each tool that that is desired to be coupled to the pump outlet. As is known in the art, various tools exist, such as tapers and finishing tools, to apply joint compound to various drywall locations. Tapers typically require a cam lever coupling having a ball valve for joining a gooseneck to join to the pump outlet, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,925 to Denkins et al. Finishing tools, such as corner boxes and flat boxes, typically have a box that must be filled using a flat nozzle, or duck bill, coupled to the pump outlet, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,785,535 to Ames.
Recently, pump systems configured to provide a continuous flow of joint compound to a tool tethered to the pump through a hose have been developed in order to further save time related to refilling internal storage containers. Due to the expense of the continuous flow pump system and for the sake of convenience, tools configured for use with these systems typically all have the same coupling for joining with the pump outlet. Thus, continuous flow pump systems are often not compatible with conventional automated hand tools having internal storage containers.